The Twilight 25 contest entries
by Juliejuliejulie
Summary: Twenty-five drabbles for nightofstars' The Twilight Twenty-Five challenge.
1. Plea

Here are my entries for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

We were given 25 one-word prompts. In most cases, I'm using the word as the theme, rather than a literal part of the drabble. FYI: I'm not going in alphabetical order.

I've never written drabbles before, so feedback would be great.

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
**Prompt #13**: Plea  
**Pen name**: Juliejuliejulie  
**Pairing**: Jasper/Alice/Bella  
**Rating**: T

~*~

Even after the trip to Phoenix, Bella's blood had reduced my throat to searing flames. I'd concentrated on Alice and Edward, vibrating with contagious excitement as Bella had opened the CD.

Calamity struck, so predictable in hindsight. The inadvertent slice. The scarlet bead of thick, fragrant blood. The haze of bloodlust amplified and echoed back to me six-fold. How could I have resisted?

Much later, Alice admitted that she'd foreseen my attack, but had hoped I'd be strong enough to overcome it.

Why test me, Alice, with crystal plates and wrapping paper? Why not use a damn gift bag instead?

**XXXXXXXXX**

A/N: Ava Sinclair has a link on her page to Flashfic Fwritedays, examples of what she and some other infamous ff authors wrote during their prompted, timed writing sessions. "Unrequited" by siDEADde is my favorite, and it's also about the birthday incident.

**Here are some other Twilight 25 drabbles that I've enjoyed: queenofgrey's Erosion, she-eats-cake's Erosion, Shell29bell's Aesthetic, vanilladoubleshot's Sour, ThisColony's Touch and Crave, americnxidiot's Worship (it's fab!) and Vivid, EllenCC's Awkward (love it!), TheHeartOfLifeIsGood's Crusade and freakyhazeleyes's entries. **


	2. Crave

Here are my entries for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

We were given 25 one-word prompts. In most cases, I'm using the word as the theme, rather than a literal part of the drabble. FYI: I'm not going in alphabetical order.

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
**Prompt #3**: Crave  
**Pen name**: Juliejuliejulie  
**Pairing**: Jasper/Bella (in the Cullen house, sometime between late Twilight and early New Moon, before Bella's birthday)  
**Rating**: K

~*~

Bella leans back from the table, frowning slightly as she searches the ceiling for trigonometry formulas.

Across the room, Jasper stares at the alabaster column of her neck, the crimson and teal veins thumping warmly beneath her rice paper skin.

Edward scowls. Bella notices, her homework forgotten. She glances nervously at Jasper and drops her chin, mixing fear with freesia.

Alice sighs and rubs Jasper's arm.

He retreats outside, inhaling. Again he's grateful Edward is a mindreader, not an empath. Swallowing venom and guilt, he hates that his desire for Bella's blood is stronger than the lust for his wife.

xxxxxxx

A/N: This drabble is inspired by a line in chapter three from Pastiche Pen's fabulous fic "If Love Could Light a Candle." I highly recommend it.


	3. Heart

Here are my entries for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

We were given 25 one-word prompts. In most cases, I'm using the word as the theme, rather than a literal part of the drabble. FYI: I'm not going in alphabetical order.

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
**Prompt #6**: Heart  
**Pen name**: Juliejuliejulie  
**Pairing**: Alice/Bella  
**Rating**: K

~*~

I never missed my humanity. I was content as a vampire, wife, sister and daughter.

Until Bella. Jasper completed me, but Bella resurrected my heart.

I understood Edward's hovering dedication. Bella was vulnerability incarnate, an unsteady, bleeding magnet for danger. Most days she monopolized my visions, even overshadowing Jasper.

Then she got pregnant.

I love Nessie, but she drove a wedge between Bella and me, while Rose and Esme inched closer. The mother, the surrogates, the hybrid child. And me, the soothsayer without maternal tendencies.

Bella's returned in my head, but she's different now. Preoccupied.

I miss my best friend.


	4. Juvenile

Here are my entries for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

We were given 25 one-word prompts. In most cases, I'm using the word as the theme, rather than a literal part of the drabble. FYI: I'm not going in alphabetical order.

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
**Prompt #8**: Juvenile  
**Pen name**: Juliejuliejulie  
**Pairing**: Edward/Jacob/Bella (Page 236 in Eclipse)  
**Rating**: K

~*~

I slowed as we neared La Push, noticing Jacob's Rabbit parked on the shoulder. He feigned nonchalance as I unloaded Bella's bike, but immediately attempted to irritate me with more than his stench.

_Why didn't the vampire have any friends? He was a pain in the neck._

_What did the werewolf say to the vampire? You suck._

I sighed before crashing my lips against Bella's. When I finally released her, marked with my scent and gasping, I laughed. The mongrel silently roared with idle threats.

_How do you make a werewolf stew? Keep him waiting while I kiss __**my**__ Bella. _


	5. Sour

Here are my entries for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
**Prompt #18**: Sour  
**Pen name**: Juliejuliejulie  
**Pairing**: Jacob/Bella (Page 104 in Eclipse)  
**Rating**: T

~*~

We sit on the driftwood, gnarled and white as bone.

Bella snuck here to see me. I should be happy.

"There was nothing to forgive."

I want to shake her. Weep. Scream. Tear the bloodsuckers apart. Instead I swallow vomit.

As Bella describes her rescue mission to Italy, I rage at the sky and water.

If only she hadn't jumped.

If only I'd kissed her instead of answering the phone.

If only I'd stalled her so she and the annoying fortune-teller had missed the flight. One minute later and the leech's ass would've been toast.

If only she'd chosen me.


	6. Raindrops

Here is another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

We were given 25 one-word prompts. In most cases, I'm using the word as the theme, rather than a literal part of the drabble. FYI: I'm not going in alphabetical order.

I've never written drabbles before, so feedback would be great.

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
**Prompt**: Raindrops  
**Pen name**: Juliejuliejulie  
**Pairing**: Edward/Bella (Edward POV)  
**Rating**: T

Note: This is a drabble and a teaser for a later chapter of CLI. (I hope you don't mind that I used my own story for some of these prompts.)

~*~

Bella won't stop asking questions, drilling me, until I crumble. Finally, I confess.

She starts wailing. Great heaving sobs that shake her like she's half-naked in the snow. Even her teeth are chattering. I grab her and try to press my finger between her lips to stop the noise.

A girlish keening escapes me. I have ruined my life. Bella's going to divorce me. I scream, feeling like I'm dying. Bella tells me to be quiet, it's midnight and I'm going to wake the neighbors, while she sits on the bed, water pouring from her eyes like a watering can.


	7. Erosion

Here is another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
**Prompt #5**: Erosion  
**Pen name**: Juliejuliejulie  
**Pairing**: Bella/Edward  
**Rating**: T

Note: This is not officially a drabble since it's 300 words. Maybe a thrabble? It is also a teaser for a later chapter of CLI.

~*~

As I pull the car to the curb, Edward holds my other hand and kisses my fingertips. The lights from the convenience store across the street make his eyes extra shiny, reflecting long trails of tears down his cheeks.

"We'll fix us. I'll fix me," Edward says.

I nod dumbly, my tongue too thick to speak. _Please_, I beg silently. _Please fix you. I can't, I've tried_.

"Okay, if I don't leave now I'll never get out of the car."

The paper bag Edward packed instead of a suitcase topples over as he yanks it from the backseat, sending t-shirts and boxers tumbling into the puddles of slush on the street. He bends over to grab them as closes the door. Through the rearview mirror I watch him walk away.

He struggles with the door after Tanya buzzes him in. Edward enters. He disappears.

I weep. I just kicked my husband out of our apartment.

I call Rosalie. No answer. I try Alice…no answer. The one time I don't want to be alone and nobody answers the fucking telephone.

Dejected, I toss my cell on the passenger seat. I head home in a daze. The car in front of me drives too slowly for the speed limit, but I don't care. What is there to rush back to? Silence?

I brake again and look up, noticing the stickers on the rear fender. The first says, "Change is inevitable. Growth is optional." The other: "Fearful people do stupid things."

How pathetic that my life is reflected perfectly by some stranger's bumper stickers.

I wonder again, _Why, Edward_?

I know that anger will soon consume me, but for now I pity Edward. Fearful people do do stupid things—horrible, hurtful, needless things—but that doesn't make it okay just because they're scared.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N: Once after a searing fight with my husband, I saw a car with both of those bumper stickers. It seemed too perfect at the time, so I decided it was a gift from the writing Gods. Thusly, they found their way into this story.

Thanks to Justine for the advice on the prompt.


	8. Aesthetic

Another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
**Prompt #1**: Aesthetic  
**Pen name**: Juliejuliejulie  
**Pairing**: Charlie/Bella (Sometime during Eclipse)  
**Rating**: K

~*~

"Renee sent a photo in her letter."

I glance up, nod at Bella.

"Beautiful. Always was."

When I met Renee, it hurt to look at her—all vibrant light and breathless wonder. She made me feel _alive_. Used to, anyway.

Something died when Renee ditched me. I lost more than a promise and her hyperactive love. I lost Bella.

When Bella stormed out, spitting the same complaints, it cut deeper, fiercer.

But she came back.

Words stick in my throat. _I'm sorry. I love you. I forgive you. _

Instead I say, "You're beautiful too, Bells."

She blushes, hiding her smile.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: I've written this drabble at least twenty times. It's completely different than the way I originally intended it to be, and the prompt's meaning has changed as well. I tried to focus on a singular thought, rather than the three tangents I had going on before. Your thoughts are welcome, especially if you caught the version I posted here earlier.


	9. Voracious

Another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
**Prompt #22**: Voracious  
**Pen name**: Juliejuliejulie  
**Pairing**: Rosalie/Emmett  
**Rating**: M-ish

~*~

After Edward and his pet leave the house, Emmett struggles to remember the taste of pie. He nibbles my leg and asks, "Do you miss food?"

"Never. I thirst for blood, but you're the only thing I crave," I lie. "Do you?"

Emmett nestles between my quivering thighs, his mouth shiny and split with a smile.

"No. You're better than peaches, babe, or T-bone steaks. I could eat you for centuries and still want more."

He distracts me from my unquenchable hunger, from the inedible impossibility that ravages me more than my nature or husband.

I dissolve and momentarily forget.


	10. Touch

Another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
**Prompt #20**: Touch  
**Pen name**: Juliejuliejulie  
**Pairing**: Bella/Edward (after Bella becomes a vampire)  
**Rating**: M-ish

**A/N**: I just finished reading "Tropic of Virgo" and was inspired to write some sexy poetry. Mine doesn't compare to _in a blue bathrobe_'s prose, but it was fun to write.

~*~

"I need you."

His whispered breath is  
Electric  
Volts bursting  
From ear to toes  
Pulses of desperate need  
Burn through venom soaked veins  
Soak through thin cotton  
Bend my back like a bridge  
(Already falling  
down)  
Muscles hard as stone  
Tremble with the slightest touch  
He makes me  
Feel  
(Oh yes)  
Like a flipped switch

A lightning rod  
Or a trigger  
Finger  
Running over my curves  
Sliding under my clothes  
Thrusting between my softest skin  
(Oh god)  
His formerly chilled flesh  
Has thawed

Now his stroke scorches like a searing  
Flame  
As a surrogate tongue  
(Don't stop)  
Licks  
Tastes  
Jolts me back from endless distractions  
(Yes please)

The smell of his neck  
The prisms of light reflecting off his bare shoulder  
The texture of the sheets under my back  
(Right there)  
We share  
Sensation  
Flesh  
Hearts  
Everything  
(Thank you)

I am swallowed whole  
Dissolved  
Then reborn in his arms.


	11. Worship

Another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/ (without the spaces)

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #25: Worship  
Pen name: Juliejuliejulie  
Pairing: Garrett/Kate (p. 724 in Breaking Dawn)  
Rating: T

~*~

I'd watched Katrina for days, training Bella to control her shield. I fell for her flirty challenge and again when she'd leveled me with a lightning strike. Lying on my back, I knew her odd electrical alchemy had turned attraction into love.

Katrina fueled the gnawing burn in my throat; my hunger for her outweighed my cravings for blood. I longed to be her companion as my eyes faded to a matching shade of amber.

I whispered to the glorious beauty crouched beside me, smelling of fresh snow and lilac, "If we live through this, I'll follow you anywhere, woman."

XXXXXX

A/N: goldenmeadow has a fabulous Garrett/Kate story that I read after I posted this. I highly recommend it.


	12. Awkward

Another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
**Prompt #2**: Awkward  
**Pen name**: Juliejuliejulie  
**Pairing**: Bella/Edward  
**Rating**: M-ish

~*~

Edward and I are sprawled on the Cullen's sofa. My flame-haired Adonis is reading aloud, but his words bounce past my ears. I can only focus on the movement of his lips, the flicker of his teeth. I ache for his mouth against my neck. A burst of heat floods between my legs. Mortified, my cheeks burn.

Edward's nostrils flare. He stops reading and fixes me with a stare that could melt glass.

Alice giggles.

I glance up. Jasper avoids my eyes and clears his throat.

Rosalie and Emmett exchange a smirk.

There is no privacy in this house.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: Thanks for the feedback, Justine.


	13. Mirror

Another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
**Prompt #10**: Mirror  
**Pen name**: Juliejuliejulie  
**Pairing**: Emmett/Bella (in a diner with Henry, Rose and Emmett's toddler, after the end of CLI)  
**Rating**: M-ish

~*~

Bella stopped talking and stared across the table. Henry, strapped into his highchair, had twisted a syrup-coated fork into his curls. He tapped the fork with his hand, covered thickly with whipped cream, as it dangled from the back of his head.

"Fuuuuuuuuck," he moaned.

Bella choked momentarily on her omelet.

I disguised my laughter as a cough. How could I yell at him? It's not like he used the word wrong. I'd recently found new ways to curse, but I guess I'd let the f-bomb slip within proximity of his sponge ears.

"Spitting image of his daddy," Bella smirked.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Americnxidiot's "Walls" is fabulous. If you like J/B stuff, ElleCC has some great drabbles/oneshots as well. Y'all should read everything inabluebathrobe has written. Her Twi25 entries are phenomenal, but you should read Tropic of Virgo first.

Justine, thanks for your impeccable attention to detail.


	14. Soft

Another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. The rest is mine.

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
**Prompt #17**: Soft  
**Pen name**: Juliejuliejulie  
**Pairing**: Edward/Bella (seven months after "Raindrops" and "Erosion")  
**Rating**: T

~*~

"We are two traumatized people."

"We really are," Edward whispers, lifting his cheek from my tear-soaked shoulder.

My throat clenches, as if the car has diminished by half and I've doubled in size.

Is this what love is? We damage each other and make unsatisfying compromises until we find ourselves so far from our destination that we become foreigners in our own lives?

I am an oyster shell, pried apart and vulnerable, splayed wide like an open palm. I am an eggshell, chipped and leaking. I feel raw, on the verge of breaking.

I crack the window, gasping for air.


	15. Crusade

Another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #4: Crusade  
Pen name: Juliejuliejulie  
Pairing: Rosalie/Royce, Pre-Twilight  
Rating: T

~*~

"Hello again," I taunted, standing outside the vault.

My rapist and former fiancé whimpered. Murder wouldn't heal me, but the taste of revenge was a satisfying treat. Each deafening thump of his heart wafted the scent of blood through the reinforced door. My throat threatened to betray me, but I choked back venom and the urge to drain him. He poisoned me once, but not a drop of his foulness would pass these smiling lips.

He knew me as beautiful Rosalie, broken woman, victim. Now I am goddess of  
destruction, undead and unstoppable.

Still, Royce, less a monster than you.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: Thanks for the feedback, Justine.


	16. Light

Another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
**Prompt #9**: Light  
**Pen name**: Juliejuliejulie  
**Pairing**: Bella/Jacob (p.131 of New Moon)  
**Rating**: K

~*~

"Bella!" Jacob's expanse of brilliant white teeth blinded me.

His voice was a splash of icy water, shaking me awake. Shockingly, I'd heard him clearly, not as a tinny echo of every fourth word or the mumbling reverb that filled my head as I'd trudged through life on automatic pilot.

As if on cue, my other senses sat up from their long hibernation.

Jacob smelled like potato chips and clean sweat. The pelting rain prickled my pale skin, making me shiver. I realized my stomach was growling.

Cautiously, tasting the awkward hope as my lips moved into place, I smiled.

xxxxx

A/N: Apparently, I am feeling overwrought today. So be it.


	17. Jealousy

Another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #XXXX: Jealousy  
Pen name: Juliejuliejulie  
Pairing: Jasper/Alice  
Rating: T

~*~

I've long since lost count of the times I've wanted to smack the head off Edward's shoulders for his condescending superiority and whiny martyrdom. It feels wrong, however, to be mad at Alice.

I'd easily tolerated her and Edward's instant sibling connection and wordless jokes. Their indescribable bond couldn't compare to our relationship. In a rainy Philadelphia diner, Alice became my world, my soul.

She knows I'm not angry at her self-sacrifice, but at her misplaced devotion. With just a phone call and a fleeting image of the future, Alice chose Edward and almost certain death over me.

It hurts.

xxxxxx

Blondie aka Robin touched on this topic in "Dark Side of the Moon," the greatest canon fic of all time. She explored Jasper's rage at Edward for knowing Alice would follow him to Italy and his jealousy that she was willing to give up eternity with Jasper to save Edward. It stuck with me as a great under-explored idea in the fandom, so I wrote a drabble about it.


	18. Platonic

Another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #11: Platonic (or not…)

Pen name: Juliejuliejulie  
Pairing: Jasper/Emmett/Edward (crackficish, during Twilight, when Edward leaves for Alaska after meeting Bella in biology)  
Rating: M-ish

~*~

Weary of another one of Edward's tantrums, Emmett and Jasper continue their ongoing haiku contest to see who can best capture their brother's essence in seventeen syllables. After several minutes of frantically scribbling and tapping his pencil against his lip, Emmett throws his balled up entry at Jasper's face from across the sofa.

_Emo cry baby,_

_stop whining and fuck Tanya,_

_you annoying prude._

With a smug smile, Emmett raises his hand just as Jasper tosses his poem at him. He smoothes the paper, and his lips move as he silently reads the three lines to himself.

_I am a glacier,_

_frozen as Arctic tundra._

_No one can love me._

"Dammit!" Emmett yells, knowing he lost. "Best two out of three?"

Jasper nods. With a devious twinkle in his eye, he says, "I hear Edward's got a new crush."

"Oh yeah," Emmett snorts, his pen poised above a blank sheet of paper. "Bella. She's cute, too." After a pause, he adds. "Fifty bucks says he bites her within a month of coming back from Alaska."

"You're on."

They shake hands then yank each other off the sofa to wrestle for forty-five minutes, breaking one of Esme's new wingback chairs in the process.

"Wait," Jasper says, "we never finished those haikus."

They settle back onto the cushions, pulling the coffee table into its normal place. Emmett bends over, retrieving the paper and pens from under the nearby loveseat. A few minutes later, they trade poems.

Surrounding Emmett's haiku is an enormous heart, drawn not with a single line but with one word repeated over and over again: nom.

_Pale, tasty Bella._

_I can't decide whether to _

_bite you or kiss you. _

Jasper's paper is also decorated with images, although his are bordering on obscene.

_Hey pretty human,_

_you sure smell good. Can I show_

_you my sparkle peen?_

With a deafening guffaw, Emmett swings his giant fist at Jasper's shoulder, who effortlessly darts out of the way.

"Poetry sucks anyway. Let's play Resident Evil 4 on the Wii instead. At least then I have a chance of winning."

"Dream on, brother," Jasper replies as he flicks on the TV. "And I call dibs on the nunchuk."


	19. Stagnant

Another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #19: Stagnant  
Pen name: Juliejuliejulie  
Pairing: Rosalie/Bella/Edward  
Rating: T

~*~

I'd always pegged Bella as an unfortunate trap of biology, bad luck and poor timing. For Edward, her blood was the lure, her locked thoughts were the net and her innocent vulnerability sealed the deal. She was a novelty and he fell for it.

I'd underestimated her.

When I see their shared glances, hear how her pulse kicks into overdrive with a simple smile, I have to reevaluate her. As much as Edward annoys me, to see him drool and hover like the swoony teenager he _should_ be warms my cold, dead heart.

I almost want to hug her. Almost.


	20. Play

Another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #12: Play  
Pen name: Juliejuliejulie  
Pairing: Emmett/Rosalie  
Rating: M

~*~

"Mmmm, lumberjack," Rosalie purrs, stepping into the clearing.

I snap the trunk of a birch over my raised knee as she eyes my red flannel shirt, unbuttoned across my twinkling chest. She circles me and licks her lips.

This is a variation of our little game: Resurrecting Emmett. I'm supposed to act like prey. I momentarily oblige, quivering at her coiled danger and beauty.

"Come here, Angel. I've got an uncut log to show you."

With raised eyebrows over darkening eyes, Rosalie watches as I slide my hand inside my jeans. Her nostrils flare. I pump harder. She smirks then pounces.


	21. Wood

Another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
**Prompt #24**: Wood  
**Pen name**: Juliejuliejulie  
**Pairing**: Jacob (p. 708 of Breaking Dawn)  
**Rating**: T

~*~

Under different circumstances, I would've been amused when freaky bloodsucker #45 pulled out that contraption and turned bloodsucker #12 into a shish kabob. Today it just pissed me off.

I snorted, my nose irritated from the cloying stink. Not that I minded one less vampire, but she reeked like logs soaked in liquid sugar and blasted with a flamethrower.

My eyes darted between Bella and Edward before refocusing on that albino bastard who touched my Nessie. Wait till he sees what this "guard dog" can do to some Italian leech throats.

With nerves crackling, I crouched lower, ready to leap.


	22. Walls

Another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #23: Walls  
Pen name: Juliejuliejulie  
Pairing: Bella/Alice (a moment from CLI, about four months after "Erosion" and "Raindrops")  
Rating: T

~*~

"Edward came back."

"What?" Alice snapped. She glanced up at me with narrowed eyes, accidentally dropping her fork against the side of her plate.

Even though no one was sitting near us in the diner, I leaned forward, my voice barely above a whisper. "He moved back in yesterday."

Alice's silence seemed to expand past our table; she'd judged me more with her muteness than if she'd launched into a scolding tirade. I wanted to fill the space, explain somehow so I could buffer the disappointment I saw in her eyes. However, we both knew the inadequacies of words, and it wouldn't have helped anyway. I bit the inside of my cheek instead.

I told myself that Alice only wanted to protect me from more pain. She wasn't angry at me but at Edward and the trouble he'd caused with his web of lies. I also understood that she probably hated him, at least a little bit. How could she not?

I'd called her from the parking lot across the street from work on the morning after Edward's confession. After my greeting of "Oh, Alice," I'd sobbed for ten minutes straight, incoherent and unable to explain what happened. She had waited patiently for me to fall into a whimpering lull. Finally, she'd asked, "Are you hurt? Can I help?" I'd mumbled, "Yes" and "No," before another onslaught of tears overtook me.

We'd gone for countless walks in the last four months where I'd raged and wept, struggling to understand Edward's actions. Neither of us had answers, but she'd listened regardless. When she didn't offer advice, Alice simply nodded, mentally tabulating Edward's poor choices as growing evidence of rampant male incompetence. As if she needed more proof. She seemed to be brimming with her own anguish as her marriage to Jasper continued to collapse at an exponential rate.

How could I honestly expect her to absolve Edward of his betrayal when I wasn't sure I could do it myself?

In the sprawling seconds that passed as I waited for her to say _something_, I contemplated the puzzle of forgiveness. I couldn't wrap my head around the logistics of how to navigate through it. In some ways, forgiveness was no more than willful forgetting, taking all of the mistakes that tainted a person like a thick coat of mud and wiping them away. In other ways, it acted more like a festering wound, glossed over with pleasantries and avoidance, and waiting for some other event to rip it wide open again. By the look on Alice's face, she didn't want me to forgive Edward. She wanted me to wise up and leave. Do anything but allow him back into the apartment. It wasn't so easy. I loved Edward, despite everything, and I still wanted to try. Why did that make me feel like a sucker?

I stared across the table at my best friend and defender. She inhaled loudly, twisting her napkin with both hands. I fought the urge to apologize, not sure if it was to her or to me.

"It's hard," I choked out, my eyes filling up.

Alice nodded and looked away.

A/N: I know I don't give you much context for this scene, but it's where my head was at today.


	23. Retribution

Another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #15: Retribution  
Pen name: Juliejuliejulie  
Pairing: Carlisle/Edward  
Rating: T

~*~

Looking out from my study, I stared at my father's cross. He'd carved it before I was born, during his first week at his new parish. Perhaps in those days he'd been softened by my honey-haired mother, Elizabeth, sitting obediently in the front pew of the church while he preached. However, I suspected that my father had always been stern, and my mother's death had hardened him further into the distant man I knew and tried to love. In quiet moments at home together, he would glance up from his Bible and scowl, "You look just like your mother." His stare would feel like judgment, my face a reminder of everything he lost to gain a son.

Although his name was Father Samuel, he was never so much a parent as a tyrant, feral in his hatred of sinners, monsters, and the legions of Satan's minions. His life lessons had focused on vengeance, fear and duty, and when I'd shown an aptitude for kindness, he'd done his best to beat it out of me. Forgiveness and compassion were God's choices, not Man's, and he'd wasted no time encouraging such follies. He'd condoned tenderness in women, I suppose, but in men it was the devil's work, a sign of weakness, which to him was as much a transgression as blasphemy. Centuries later I could still see Father, a fervid tower of righteousness at his pulpit, spit flying from his lips as he violently gesticulated at his superstitious congregation. He'd truly believed he was a direct line to God and a dedicated soldier in the war against evil. He expected me to continue this battle over hearts and souls, so when he grew too old, I'd replaced him at the parish.

Months later, on that fateful evening in the streets of London, I became the enemy. At the time, I thought I'd inherited a fate worse than Hell. I'd wished for my father's gleeful voice, praising God as he helped build my funeral pyre. What better example of Satan's power and the Lord's wrath than the corruption and punishment of an Anglican priest's only child? In his absence, I'd exhausted every attempt to end my semblance of a life.

Thank God I'd failed. Today I was blessed with a wife, a family, a home. I'd learned there was more worth in a loving heart than a heavy hand, regardless of what my father had tried to teach me.

"Could I talk to you?" Edward appeared at the end of the hall, his face somber. As his wedding night loomed, I'd hoped he'd consult me with questions on their consummation. I knew his anxiety over endangering Bella's tenuous human life rivaled his excitement over their union. Though my knowledge was limited, I wanted to alleviate his worries.

"Of course, Son. Come in."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N: Thanks, Justine.

The Twilight Lexicon and Wikipedia claimed that Carlisle had taken over his father's parish when he became too old. Although SM doesn't reveal Carlisle's parent's names, Samuel was the third most common men's name in England during the mid 1600's (after John and Joseph, which seemed too plan for a man who'd choose "Carlisle" as his son's name) and Elizabeth was the second most common women's name (after Mary). I took some liberties for my fic. Thoughts?


	24. Sky

Another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

**The Twilight Twenty-Five**  
**Prompt #16**: Sky  
**Pen name**: Juliejuliejulie  
**Pairing**: Esme/Alice/Bella during New Moon (Maybe this is a double drabble since it's 200 words?)  
**Rating**: T

~*~

"Esme!" Alice screamed, her eyes wild and clear after her vision had passed. "Bella's dead! She jumped off a cliff in La Push!"

_I teetered on the rocky ledge overlooking Lake Superior. My unbuttoned coat flapped around me in the bitter winter wind, and I had to take a step backwards efore I lost my balance. _

_I looked up at the sky, hoping for a vision in white to guide me away from my misery. Above and below me, I saw only a sea of black, churning with bits of ice. I wasn't surprised. God had shown little interest in my life, and I doubted that even a divine hallucination could save me now. _

I love you, John. I can't bear to live without you.

_I closed my eyes against the pelting snow and pictured my baby's sweet face. _It would be over soon._ With a deep breath and arms outstretched, I took a step forward and jumped. _

I clutched Alice to my chest, both of us sobbing tearlessly.

"Oh no, _Edward_." Alice moaned, searching my eyes for answers but finding only empathy. "Why, Esme? How could she?"

"I don't know," I lied. I wish I didn't, but I understood.

A/N: Have you read EliseShaw's No Longer Alone? You should. It's fabulous.


	25. Vivid

Another entry for the Twilight Twenty-Five one-shot and drabble (100 word) challenge. For more information go to: **http:// community. livejournal. com/ thetwilight25/** (without the spaces)

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

**The Twilight Twenty-Five  
Prompt #21**: Vivid  
**Pen name**: Juliejuliejulie  
**Pairing: **Rosalie (from CLI, sometime between chapters 21 and 35)

**Rating**: M

~*~

While caressing a pack of pink ruffled onesies in the baby aisle of Target, a toddler rounded the corner, saw me and stopped. Her chubby cheeks were streaked with tears and her hair stuck up in an unruly nest of inky snarls. She smiled shyly and waved. I waved back, wishing I could pick her up and hug her, or at least give her mother a piece of my mind for letting her look like such a mess in public.

A shrill voice interrupted our moment.

"And then he tells me my sister's no good, like his lazy ass friends is any better. Shit. I know, right? Hold on. Tameka! Tameka, where'r you at?!"

The toddler craned her head over her shoulder in the direction of the woman's voice. Then she turned back toward me and with a devilish grin, started pulling packets of bibs and booties off of the hooks and onto the floor.

I opened my mouth to warn her to stop when a squat, surly woman entered my line of vision. With a cell phone wedged against her ear, she slammed her cart into the end of a display of strollers. This jostled the sleeping baby balanced on the storage rack underneath the shopping cart, sending the infant into a caterwauling fit. The mother ignored the baby's screams and stalked toward the toddler in fury.

"Tameka! God dammit, what'd I tell you? Get back over here before I beat your ass!"

She reached for the young girl, now wriggling and squealing to avoid her mother's outstretched hands. "Come here," she snarled, yanking Tameka roughly by the arms and practically tossing her into the back of the shopping cart. Tameka immediately launched into an ear-piercing shriek, which her mother answered with a loud slap to the mouth before picking up her cell phone and resuming her conversation.

"Don't hit her!" I bellowed, outrage and shock coursing through me like an electrical charge. "What the devil is wrong with you?"

The woman reeled on me with cold, black eyes. "Don't you tell me how to mother my kids!" she hollered back, dropping her cell phone to her side. "Who the fuck are you? You think you better than me? I can do whatever the fuck I want to with my kids!" She tugged the cart into the center of the aisle and started pushing it away from me. "Shut up!" she shouted at the still crying Tameka, who cowered and whimpered in the piles of clothes and diapers cluttered around her in the cart.

The mother disappeared around the corner, already squawking into her phone. "Cheryl? Yeah. No, just some fucking bitch who can't mind her own fucking business. Now what was I sayin'? Oh yeah…"

Momentarily stunned, I clenched and unclenched my fists, warring between beating the everloving shit out of this woman and calling security to report her for child abuse. Still shaking with rage, I threw down my red basket and raced into the center aisle to catch up with her.

The woman was already up to Shoes, still ignoring her emotionally traumatized kids and talking to Cheryl about her deadbeat boyfriend and his miniscule penis. When Tameka grabbed a pair of boots from the end display and chucked them onto the floor, her mother slapped her so hard my teeth clenched. "God dammit, Tameka! Stop being such a shit!" This, of course, sent Tameka spiraling into wails of "Mama!" and "I wanna go home!"

A salesclerk watched the entire exchange with his mouth hanging open. A few seconds later, he quickly looked away and continued restocking the shelves with pairs of fuzzy slippers as if nothing had happened. Two other customers paid her no mind either, not even raising an eyebrow at her language or violence as they wheeled their carts past hers.

I stood there aghast, wondering how in the world so many people could watch this parental horrorshow and not say a goddamned thing. Hot, bitter tears burned the corners of my eyes and it took everything in me not scream at the top of my lungs. I wanted to hurt that woman and throw her in jail. I wanted to take those poor children away from her. I wanted to shower them with the love they deserved instead of being treated like annoyances. How was it remotely fair that evil people could breed like bunnies, then mistreat their children so easily in front of strangers? Lord only knows what she did to them in private.

What about people like me, good people, who would give up everything just to have one baby? I would never, ever abuse my kids like that. And still, at the end of the day, this horrible mother had two kids and I had none. Again, I wanted to lash out, to hurt someone, to somehow tip the forces of the universe so that life wouldn't be so cruel.

Out. I needed to get out of here NOW.

Without bothering to retrieve my basket of merchandise, I wiped away my angry tears with the back of my hand and raced toward the front door.

A/N: I saw a similar exchange in Target a few weekends ago and thought to myself, "Holy smokes, what would Rosalie do in this situation?" It infuriated me to watch it unfold (and it was actually much uglier than this fic version), and I'm not baby hungry or chock full of hormones. I can only imagine how hard it would have been for Rose to reign in her anger without punching someone in the face.

Thanks for reading my entries for the Twilight 25. I'd love to hear what you think of them and if you have any recommendations for other drabbles/one-shots in the contest.


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